***Editors Note: I've known Joey for a while and he's quite a soft spoken guy, but once you get to know him and his car you see what its all about. Seriously, read the back story! The passion and the drive. The unexpected turns and the end result of a bond that cant be broken. This car and this story is why I still believe that the 24v motor in a E30 is truly a match made in heaven. YES I have plenty of love for a well-built M20 and I have my opinions about the 4 cylinder E30 variants, but who can argue that this isnt a car you could live with day-to-day, on the track, in the canyons... heck even in the snow!... Congrats Joey, you're R3vlimiteds November 2022 Car of the Month!***
Exterior color: Brilliantrot
Interior color: Natur Vinyl
Engine: OBD1 converted stock S52, e28 M5 rubber motor mounts, Z3 M S54 radiator & Spal pusher fan, TRM 91-octane chip, Castro Airbox kit, Red46 skid plate for e34 M50 oil pan, M3 harness cover, Zionsville modified e21 booster
Exhaust: -Stock M50/S50 exhaust manifolds with Custom 2.5-inch with dual e36 cats back to a single resonator and single exit Dynomax muffler
Transmission: -ZF320 with detents replaced, e36 M3 dual mass flywheel and matching Sachs clutch ,e60 545 shift lever and delrin carrier bushings, AKG e36 328/M3 DSSR, Rouge Engineering rubber transmission mounts, Rebuilt e36 M3 driveshaft
Differential: -Medium case 188mm e28 3.25 LSD & Condor diff studs
Suspension: Ground Control Top Adjustable Revalved Koni Shocks & Struts in stock length housings (will need to shorten the housings one of these days…), Ground Control Eibach coilover springs 550lb fr / 700lb rr, -Ground Control Touring camber plates, UUC strut brace, Offset M3 rubber control arm bushings, e36 steering rack swap, AKG 85a rear subframe bushings & new rubber RTABs
Wheels: Ronal ACT LS 15x7.5 et25 with 205/55R15 Yokohama Advan Fleva for daily driving & 225/45R15 Hankook RS4 for the occasional autocross
Exterior modifications: US ellipsoid swap, Foglight retrofit, Fixed antenna conversion, Dings, dents, and scrapes courtesy of SF & LA street parking,
Interior modifications: M-Tech 1 385mm steering wheel, Leather “mushroom” knob, Gear Works replacement LCD screen for 6-button OBC, Cantaloupe “MDeck” Bluetooth cassette deck conversion for stock CM5908 radio, Old Dinan floor mats (at least 15hp!)
Story behind the car:
I bought this 1991 318is in 2015 as a replacement for my first 325ix e30 that I crashed as a teenager several years prior. My criteria at the time was quite silly–it had to be a manual coupe,
it had to have the stock radio (thinking the electrical system would be untouched), and it needed to have original California plates. I came across a Craigslist listing for this car in San Francisco
and decided to look at it. The lady selling it was the second owner and had owned it for around 10 years, with the first owner being her boss who bought it new (even has the original dealer sticker in the window). The car was a bit rough and tired, but it was all there. Surprisingly the original iS front lip had somehow survived all these years. Unfortunately the power antenna broke and was replaced with a universal parts store contraption that didn’t fit correctly, so the antenna opening was starting to rust from the salt air by Ocean Beach where the car lived. After confirming with a body shop that the rust could be repaired, I was now the owner of a faded pink e30. For the first year I drove it mostly as a beater 2nd car to my e36 328. I did the usual M42 things
like installing a chip and replacing the timing chain tensioner, but the car was still pretty ratty. Eventually I got the antenna hole rust repaired as the car would leak water into the trunk
anytime it rained. Then in classic M42 fashion, the engine blew up because it skipped timing.
I was initially going to rebuild or replace the M42, but honestly wasn’t very impressed by the “baby M3” engine’s performance (M42club pitchforks incoming!) and how costly and fragile it
was versus BMW’s usual 6-cylinder engines. Since my friend and his dad had a spare M50 and transmission laying around from a previous project, I went the 24v route with the car. After
getting the M50 running, I started to iron out the swap, went through the BAR process, and began refreshing the suspension with the ubiquitous H&R/Bilstein combo. Slowly but surely the
318 was coming together. About 6 months after the M50 had gone into the car, the engine started to run rough and I soon found pieces of plastic in the oil, which meant the chain guides were on their way out. Instead of rebuilding the M50, I found an e36 automatic M3 convertible being parted out, compression-checked the engine, then proceeded to buy the S52 long block to swap over all my accessories. The third time’s a charm, right? With the 318 running better and a lot more “peppy”, I finally had the car to the point of being a reasonable daily driver. Then I had to move to LA for a new job, so the car soon joined me to get sunburned in SoCal.
While looking for a spare set of Ronal wheels for the red car, I ended up purchasing Randy Walter’s white 88’ 325is (which is another story in itself). Randy’s former car was very nicely set
up for autocross and I soon caught the bug. Since I didn’t need two e30s, I attempted to sell the red car, but the buyer backed out at the last minute. Honestly I didn’t want to see the red car
leave, so I was a bit relieved it was sticking around. So what was I to do with two e30s? The red car stayed the daily driver while I started off my cone course adventures using the M20 car because it was already prepped for autocross. This lasted about a year and a half before seeing there was more fun and competition to be had in the brackets with the higher-powered cars. Since the red car was mechanically sorted at this point, I just needed a better suspension to be one of the cool kids at the parking lot racer convention. The Bilsteins & H&Rs were initially swapped for an old Dinan J-Stock suspension. The Dinan setup worked fine on the street, but didnt have enough front spring rate because they were originally M3 springs. So I bit the bullet and bought the Ground Control kit and their fancy shocks like I should have done in the first place. I still need to shorten the strut housings so for now the car still looks like it rides on H&R Sport springs.
Like any project car, there is still a laundry list of things to address. Next on the to-do list are things like adding A/C back into the car and redoing the exhaust so its less raspy. Originally I
wanted the various dents and paint blemishes fixed, but I’ve grown to like the imperfections because the car has lived a life and I can drive it without worrying where I park it…or “patina” as
the hipster-gram crowd would call it.
So what have I learned from this car over the years? That the red car is without a doubt an emotional roller coaster, but I still enjoy driving it and appreciate all the adventures I’ve had
along the way. The other fun aspect is that there is still a lot of support for the e30 after all these years, so the car is always evolving bit by bit as new and improved continue to be developed.
Now if only the Brilliantrot paint would actually stay red and shiny for more than a week…;)
Exterior color: Brilliantrot
Interior color: Natur Vinyl
Engine: OBD1 converted stock S52, e28 M5 rubber motor mounts, Z3 M S54 radiator & Spal pusher fan, TRM 91-octane chip, Castro Airbox kit, Red46 skid plate for e34 M50 oil pan, M3 harness cover, Zionsville modified e21 booster
Exhaust: -Stock M50/S50 exhaust manifolds with Custom 2.5-inch with dual e36 cats back to a single resonator and single exit Dynomax muffler
Transmission: -ZF320 with detents replaced, e36 M3 dual mass flywheel and matching Sachs clutch ,e60 545 shift lever and delrin carrier bushings, AKG e36 328/M3 DSSR, Rouge Engineering rubber transmission mounts, Rebuilt e36 M3 driveshaft
Differential: -Medium case 188mm e28 3.25 LSD & Condor diff studs
Suspension: Ground Control Top Adjustable Revalved Koni Shocks & Struts in stock length housings (will need to shorten the housings one of these days…), Ground Control Eibach coilover springs 550lb fr / 700lb rr, -Ground Control Touring camber plates, UUC strut brace, Offset M3 rubber control arm bushings, e36 steering rack swap, AKG 85a rear subframe bushings & new rubber RTABs
Wheels: Ronal ACT LS 15x7.5 et25 with 205/55R15 Yokohama Advan Fleva for daily driving & 225/45R15 Hankook RS4 for the occasional autocross
Exterior modifications: US ellipsoid swap, Foglight retrofit, Fixed antenna conversion, Dings, dents, and scrapes courtesy of SF & LA street parking,
Interior modifications: M-Tech 1 385mm steering wheel, Leather “mushroom” knob, Gear Works replacement LCD screen for 6-button OBC, Cantaloupe “MDeck” Bluetooth cassette deck conversion for stock CM5908 radio, Old Dinan floor mats (at least 15hp!)
Story behind the car:
I bought this 1991 318is in 2015 as a replacement for my first 325ix e30 that I crashed as a teenager several years prior. My criteria at the time was quite silly–it had to be a manual coupe,
it had to have the stock radio (thinking the electrical system would be untouched), and it needed to have original California plates. I came across a Craigslist listing for this car in San Francisco
and decided to look at it. The lady selling it was the second owner and had owned it for around 10 years, with the first owner being her boss who bought it new (even has the original dealer sticker in the window). The car was a bit rough and tired, but it was all there. Surprisingly the original iS front lip had somehow survived all these years. Unfortunately the power antenna broke and was replaced with a universal parts store contraption that didn’t fit correctly, so the antenna opening was starting to rust from the salt air by Ocean Beach where the car lived. After confirming with a body shop that the rust could be repaired, I was now the owner of a faded pink e30. For the first year I drove it mostly as a beater 2nd car to my e36 328. I did the usual M42 things
like installing a chip and replacing the timing chain tensioner, but the car was still pretty ratty. Eventually I got the antenna hole rust repaired as the car would leak water into the trunk
anytime it rained. Then in classic M42 fashion, the engine blew up because it skipped timing.
I was initially going to rebuild or replace the M42, but honestly wasn’t very impressed by the “baby M3” engine’s performance (M42club pitchforks incoming!) and how costly and fragile it
was versus BMW’s usual 6-cylinder engines. Since my friend and his dad had a spare M50 and transmission laying around from a previous project, I went the 24v route with the car. After
getting the M50 running, I started to iron out the swap, went through the BAR process, and began refreshing the suspension with the ubiquitous H&R/Bilstein combo. Slowly but surely the
318 was coming together. About 6 months after the M50 had gone into the car, the engine started to run rough and I soon found pieces of plastic in the oil, which meant the chain guides were on their way out. Instead of rebuilding the M50, I found an e36 automatic M3 convertible being parted out, compression-checked the engine, then proceeded to buy the S52 long block to swap over all my accessories. The third time’s a charm, right? With the 318 running better and a lot more “peppy”, I finally had the car to the point of being a reasonable daily driver. Then I had to move to LA for a new job, so the car soon joined me to get sunburned in SoCal.
While looking for a spare set of Ronal wheels for the red car, I ended up purchasing Randy Walter’s white 88’ 325is (which is another story in itself). Randy’s former car was very nicely set
up for autocross and I soon caught the bug. Since I didn’t need two e30s, I attempted to sell the red car, but the buyer backed out at the last minute. Honestly I didn’t want to see the red car
leave, so I was a bit relieved it was sticking around. So what was I to do with two e30s? The red car stayed the daily driver while I started off my cone course adventures using the M20 car because it was already prepped for autocross. This lasted about a year and a half before seeing there was more fun and competition to be had in the brackets with the higher-powered cars. Since the red car was mechanically sorted at this point, I just needed a better suspension to be one of the cool kids at the parking lot racer convention. The Bilsteins & H&Rs were initially swapped for an old Dinan J-Stock suspension. The Dinan setup worked fine on the street, but didnt have enough front spring rate because they were originally M3 springs. So I bit the bullet and bought the Ground Control kit and their fancy shocks like I should have done in the first place. I still need to shorten the strut housings so for now the car still looks like it rides on H&R Sport springs.
Like any project car, there is still a laundry list of things to address. Next on the to-do list are things like adding A/C back into the car and redoing the exhaust so its less raspy. Originally I
wanted the various dents and paint blemishes fixed, but I’ve grown to like the imperfections because the car has lived a life and I can drive it without worrying where I park it…or “patina” as
the hipster-gram crowd would call it.
So what have I learned from this car over the years? That the red car is without a doubt an emotional roller coaster, but I still enjoy driving it and appreciate all the adventures I’ve had
along the way. The other fun aspect is that there is still a lot of support for the e30 after all these years, so the car is always evolving bit by bit as new and improved continue to be developed.
Now if only the Brilliantrot paint would actually stay red and shiny for more than a week…;)
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